Inconclusive
by DarkandtwistyGirl
Summary: Alternate ending to Scope of Practice, Marisa did have meningitis. Rabbit stays by her side as she fights for her life. *Complete*
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Trauma, or the characters thereof. This is just for fun.**_

_**I hope everyone enjoys this fic!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

It had been a long day for medics Marisa Benez and Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuck, and it wasn't over yet.

Earlier in the day they had treated an elderly man with meningitis, and as they had been in contact with the highly contagious patient, they were placed in quarantine pending blood test results. Rabbit's results had come back clear several hours before, but Marisa's had been inconclusive. Since then Rabbit had been anxiously watching over his partner as they awaited the new test results.

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><p>Rabbit was dozing on an unused hospital gurney in the hallway when intern Diana Van Dine approached him, she was closely followed by a nurse, Rebecca, who pushed a tray loaded with medical supplies. Both the nurse and Diana were wearing masks, gloves and gowns, and to Reuben that spoke volumes.<p>

" So, um... What's the verdict?" Rabbit asked apprehensively as the young intern walked over to him.

"We have Marisa's second test back, the test was positive for bacterial meningitis. I'm sorry," Diana said apologetically.

Rabbit ran a hand through his hair, "Crap ...So what happens now?"

"Rebecca here is going to start Marisa on vancomyocin and ceftriaxone to treat the meningitis, as well as dexamethasone to reduce swelling in her brain. Once the meds have been started, we'll move her upstairs to the ICU."

"ICU? Seriously, she's not that sick," Rabbit said in shock as he looked into the isolation room that held his partner, "She's not that sick."

"I know she looks okay at the moment, but this disease progresses very quickly, death can occur within hours if it isn't treated aggressively. Doing anything other than this is just wasting time that she might not have," Diana told Rabbit, "I'm sorry, but we need to get in there."

He'd been playing along up until then, but hearing that news, Rabbit couldn't just remain on the sidelines, watching from a distance, Marisa deserved better than to be left in there alone. "I'm coming in with you."

"You can't-"

"You're not hearing me, I'm coming in with you," Rabbit said with determination, he was not going to leave her to go through this on her own.

Diana held up her hands in defeat, "Fine." She then went over to a nearby stand, where she gathered up a set of personal protective equipment, much like what she was wearing, she handed the gear to Rabbit as she said, "Put this on."

"Thank you," Rabbit said gratefully, accepting the gear. He slipped it on quickly, and a minute later they were ready to go in.

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><p>At that time, Marisa was already showing symptoms, though up until that moment she had hoped that it wasn't real, that thinking she was getting sick was the only reason she had a fever, that the stress was giving her a headache, and the way she had been lying on the uncomfortable gurney was the reason her neck was stiff, but as soon as she saw Reuben enter the room, wearing full protective clothing, closely followed by Diana and Rebecca, she knew that there would be no good news.<p>

They had agreed that Reuben could be the one to deliver the news, and so the others remained a respectful distance away as he made his way over to her bedside.

"Please, just tell me."

"You're test is positive, Marisa, but look, you don't need to worry, coz we're gonna get you through this, you're gonna be fine."

Reuben was lying, Marisa knew he was lying, but she said nothing as nurse Rebecca came over, and got started on connecting her to a total of four IVs, two in each hand; they would later be replaced by a central line, while Diana began to explain to her the symptoms of the disease and its progress.

As Rebecca was tending to Marisa, Dr Joe came into the room, Marisa looked up as she heard the approaching footsteps. "So what happens now doc?"

"We treat you," Dr Joe said directly.

"How?" Marisa questioned the senior physician, trying to wrap her head around everything.

"Rebecca's starting you on antibiotics right now; we have already determined the strain that the patient had, so we can target it more directly. We are also giving you dexamethasone, to suppress inflammation caused by the bacteria fragments in your bloodstream, and fluids to prevent any dehydration. Hopefully we'll catch it before you get very sick at all Marisa, but-"

"But you don't think so?"

"No, you were exposed over twelve hours ago, we will start you on the treatment now, but more likely than not you will get a lot worse before you get better."

"How much worse?" Marisa asked, her voice was shaky as she spoke, betraying her fear more than she would usually allow herself to.

"In all honesty, your life is in danger. Bacterial meningitis, what you have, as I'm sure you know progresses very rapidly, death can occur within hours of symptoms appearing, you are already showing early symptoms of infection. We'll be moving you upstairs to the intensive care unit shortly so that they can keep a close watch on you."

"But you don't have anything to worry about, okay Marisa. I'll get you through this okay, we're partners, and I swear to you right now that I'll get you through this," Rabbit quickly reassured Marisa, seeing the fear in her eyes, hearing the fear in her voice. "I'll get you through this, and we'll be back up in the air in no time."

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><p>Minutes later two orderlies arrived to take Marisa upstairs, it wasn't long before that made Marisa panic; she clung uncharacteristically to Rabbit, seeking comfort and reassurance, "What's going on? Where are they taking me? Rabbit, please."<p>

Trying to maintain a calm facade, Reuben told her, "You're being admitted to the intensive care unit."

"What?" Marisa's breathing sped up, she began to panic.

What was said next did little to ease Marisa's anxiety; Rebecca had to correct Rueben, "Dr Joe has actually written for a central line, as well as an ICP monitor to be placed. We'll take you up to surgery, and you will most likely go from there to the intensive care."

"...Whoa, wait," Rabbit said, "ICP monitor? We're not there yet are we?"

"From what I understand Dr Joe just wants to be able to monitor Marisa's condition very closely over the coming days. That is also the reason why we are admitting you to the intensive care unit."

Marisa was terrified, and getting frantic, she tried to stand to get out, but it was too difficult with the IVs in place, "Please, no, I don't want to go there, I don't want to die."

Rabbit moved to help Marisa back into bed, "You're not dying, Marisa. You just need to be somewhere where they can keep a real close eye on you. I'll stay with you until we can leave her together, okay?"

Marisa visibly calmed, "You promise?"

"I promise, okay. I'm not going anywhere."

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><p>Three hours later Marisa had was being settled in upstairs in the ICU following the minor surgery when Dr Saviano came in, accompanied by intensive care specialist, Dr Mike Lawrence.<p>

Marisa had been placed in complete isolation from the patients and staff of the intensive care unit, the room had glass walls, unlike how around every other bed was just a curtain, and this room had a small anteroom where staff and visitors had to scrub before and after visiting, and don masks and gloves. The last thing that any patient in the ICU needed was to be exposed to bacterial meningitis, meningococcal.

"Marisa, how are you doing? You hanging in there alright?" Joe asked, before introducing her to the other physician, "Marisa, this is Dr Lawrence, he's going to be taking care of you from here on in."

Marisa was still a bit groggy from the anaesthetic, but at least she was now calm, "Hey."

"Hi Marisa. How are you travelling? Feeling alright?"

Marisa was feeling worse by the minute, and she was frightened as to what was going to happen in the coming hours and days, she'd read up on bacterial meningitis on her phone earlier, she knew what she had to look forward to, but still she tried to remain stoic, "'m alright."

"Okay then, I'll be back in a while to check in on you. Is there anything I can get for you?"

Quietly Marisa asked, "Can I get something for the pain, please my head really hurts."

"No worries, you have a small hole drilled through your skull for the ICP monitor, pain is very much to be expected. I'll write up for the nurse to give you some morphine. We'll start with two milligrams, get the nurse to give me a buzz if that doesn't work."

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><p>That day had been no easier for the other medics, Nancy and Glenn were knee deep in legal problems, a prank that Tyler had played on Cameron had backfired, causing tension, and generally it hadn't been a good day, but all their own problems were forgotten when they were called into the captain's office when they arrived the next morning for their shifts.<p>

He did not say why he wanted to see them, but knowing of the situation with Rabbit and Marisa, it was a safe assumption that it was to do with them, and the fact that he didn't just tell them over the phone did not bode well in their minds.

And they were right in their concern.

Captain Basra ushered the two teams, along with others from the station into his office. His tone was solemn as he delivered the news, "As most of you know by now, yesterday afternoon Reuben and Marisa had a patient with meningococcal meningitis, and I spoke earlier today with Rabbit, he's fine, but Marisa, Marisa wasn't so lucky. She's been admitted to the ICU at City, and I'll keep you updated."

"How is she?" Nancy asked.

"Stable right now, they've started treatment; hopefully they'll have got it in time. Okay, now we've got calls backing up, I need you all out there. Speak up now if you don't think you're up to working."

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><p>In the hours that followed Marisa's condition deteriorated rapidly, first she became irritable, then confused and drowsy, then she had the first of what would be many seizures.<p>

There was nothing Rabbit could do but watch as Marisa's condition worsened.

As her condition worsened, the decision was made that they needed to stay a step ahead of the illness, and as her respiratory function decreased, the decision was made to intubate her in a controlled setting rather than waiting until she crashed, to do that they had to sedate her.

Marisa was scared, terrified as she felt the sedatives rapidly taking effect, she reached out desperately for comfort, and Reuben was there for her, he held her hand, and comforted her as the drugs pulled her under.

"Please, call my mum... Tell her I love her, please," Marisa pleaded with Rabbit.

"You can call her yourself in a couple of days, okay?"

"No, please, I want her here, please."

"Okay, I'll call her, but you don't need to worry okay, you'll be fine. Just take it easy. You're okay, breathe, I've got you, you're okay," Reuben continued to comfort Marisa in much the same fashion as he had not that long ago when Nancy had been hurt, only stopping once he could see that the sedatives had taken full effect, and he had to step away to give the doctor room to intubate her.

Trying to give him comfort, the nurse assisting said to Rabbit, "It'll only be for a few days, she'll be alright."

Looking on as a breathing tube was slid down his partner's throat, and she was connected to a ventilator, Rabbit didn't believe the nurse whatsoever, he was sure that Marisa was going to die, that he was going to watch her die.

"There's a phone at the nurses' station if you want to make that call now," One of the nurses told Reuben.

Rabbit looked up at the nurse numbly, "Sorry, what?"

"If you want to call her mother, you can use the phone at the nurses' desk," Rabbit remained silent, and a moment later the nurse suggested, "If you'd rather, give me the number and I can make the call."

Rabbit scrubbed his face with his hands, he let out a groan as he headed for the door of the room, "No, it's okay, I can do it."

"Come with me," The nurse said softly as she led Reuben out to the nurses' station.

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><p><em><strong>TBC...<strong>_

_**Thanks for reading. Please take a moment to drop me a review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Trauma, or the characters thereof. This is just for fun.**_

_**I hope everyone enjoys this fic!**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 2<strong>_

Reuben had not had many dealings with Marisa's mother, Leticia Benez, but the stories Marisa had told had given him some warning as to what she would be like, still she was intense, especially so as Rabbit was emotionally and physically exhausted.

Rabbit sat down tiredly in a chair offered to him by one of the nursing staff, as he dialled the number he'd gotten from Marisa's cell phone.

"Hello?" A heavily accented Latino woman's voice came across the line.

"Yeah, can I speak to Mrs Benez?"

"Speaking. Who is this?"

For once in his working life, Rabbit didn't pretend that everything was fine, as he had so often done with patients and their families, he couldn't, "Ah, um, Mrs Benez, this is Reuben Palchuck, I work with your... I work with Marisa. Look, I've got some bad news."

He heard a sharp intake of breath, before Leticia shakily asked, "Please, what's happened? Where's Marisa? Was she hurt? I told her that job was dangerous..."

Rabbit allowed the woman to have a bit of a rant before he broke in, telling her, "Marisa's pretty sick, we're at City Hospital, ICU room 205, she asked me to call you."

"Oh meja ...I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"Okay, and ah, drive safe alright."

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><p>Leticia arrived in a panic, it took Rabbit close to thirty minutes to calm her down enough to understand that she couldn't just barge straight into the room, she needed to prepare first, both emotionally for the fact that when she went in there, her daughter was going to be hooked up to all manner of equipment, very unwell, and also practically by putting on all of the personal protective wear.<p>

Then, even once Rabbit deemed that Leticia was calm enough and ready to go in, they were forced to wait another fifteen minutes as one of the ICU nurses, Kaitlin Fisher was midway through putting in a catheter, something that Reuben just did not want or need to see, and as it had been explained to him all procedures must be done in as sterile or an environment as possible for Marisa's safety, that certainly meant no visitors in the room.

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><p>So, the unlikely pair sat there outside Marisa's hospital room, waiting to be allowed in, eventually Kaitlin came into the anteroom where they were waiting.<p>

"You can go back in now Reuben, and ah.. Mrs Benez I assume?"

"Yes, please how is my child?"

Kaitlin tried to offer the older woman a reassuring smile, but it fell somewhat short. "She's hanging in," The nurse went on to elaborate, "Her vitals are stable, she's tolerating the ventilator well, she has suffered a number of seizures, but we are now treating her with mannitol to relieve the pressure within her brain, which should help. We are just waiting now to see how she responds to the antibiotics, and we will just need to treat symptoms of the disease until the antibiotics take effect. We gave her a sedative when we placed the breathing tube, and because she's been very agitated we have been continuing to lightly sedate her as well as placing soft restraints on her arms so that she will not hurt herself, but she is aware of her surroundings, and you can talk to her."

"Okay, thank you."

Mrs Benez and Reuben then followed Kaitlin back into the room, all wearing masks, gowns and gloves.

Marisa was completely exposed, venerable, it was a position that just hours ago no one could have imagine she would be placed in. Reuben would have averted his glance, but the sight of the line snaking into her chest, allowing five different drugs alongside fluids into her body, it caught his eye, that and her general condition; just in the time he had been out of the room it was clear that her condition had worsened, to be honest it scared him.

Even sedated, her body continued to shiver as fevers raged, and then just as quickly become flushed and sweaty, another reaction to the fever, and Kaitlin could not go far from Marisa's bedside, as Marisa was repetitively vomiting, not dangerous as she the breathing tube protected her lungs, but it still required the nurse to manage it as Marisa could not help herself.

Seeing Marisa like that, it was rough on Rabbit, but as difficult as it was for him, for Leticia it was so painful, it tore at her unbearably, that was her baby girl lying there, Marisa survived being shot at in Afghanistan, and now it looked likely that she was going to lose her life to an illness that she'd contracted treating an old man in a nursing home.

Rabbit moved to Marisa's bedside, he took hold of her hand gently as he spoke to her, "Hey partner, how're you doing?"

Marisa rolled her eyes at Rabbit.

"Sorry, stupid question," Reuben apologised, he fixed her blankets, covering her up as he said, "The nurse said that you are doing okay." Reuben lowered his voice as he told her, "I wish there was something I could do."

Marisa tried to raise her hand, and though she was stopped short by the restraint, her wish was clear, she wanted him to hold her hand.

For a moment he did, "Your mum's here now, I'm gonna go outside for a bit, but she'll be here. Okay?"

Reuben and Leticia quickly changed places in comforting Marisa, and then Reuben stepped out of the room, planning to go find himself a strong cup of coffee and something to eat.

The nurse was calm, and worked to put Leticia at ease, or at least as much so as possible; she got her a chair, spoke to her further of Marisa's condition, and offered her a cup of tea before she too stepped out to the anteroom to give the mother some time alone with her ill daughter.

Kaitlin would have to go back in just minutes later, but Leticia still appreciated the time.

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><p>While he was out of the room, giving Leticia her time with Marisa, Rabbit made the most of the time, and not only in his quest for food, but in hunting down Marisa's doctor. Reuben needed to hear from the guy himself what was happening, what the plan was, and most importantly if Marisa was going to pull through, things were getting too intense for his liking, and way too fast.<p>

The doctor did help to ease his fears. "Our hope is that with aggressive treatment we can prevent any progression of the meningococcal meningitis to septicaemia. That's why we've done all this so quickly, sedating, intubating, and getting in the central line, it all actually makes her look much sicker than she is at this moment, at this moment she is stable. Her condition is very critical, don't get me wrong, but..."

"It could get worse."

"Yes, it could still become much worse. That's why we're doing what we're doing, so far it appears to be working, she's responding to the antibiotics, so fingers crossed we've got it in time."

"So she will make it?"

That the doctor could not answer, he skirted around the question instead, "The next few days will be critical."

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><p>While Mrs Benez was with Marisa at the hospital, Rabbit had to go back to the station, he had a shift, and he would have to work it, but he had decided the moment they had received the diagnosis that he would take leave until Marisa was better.<p>

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><p>At the station Rabbit was pounced on by at least dozen medics seeking information on Marisa; he barely spoke to them as he headed straight for the captain's office.<p>

Captain Basra was sitting at his desk when Reuben entered. "Rabbit. It's good to see you, glad your test came back clear. Are you good to work today?"

"I am, but I've gotta sort out some leave. Marisa's in the ICU, I want to be there with her."

"Of course, of course that's fine. How is she?"

"Critical. Reckon the doctor thinks she's not going to make it."

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><p>The antibiotics didn't work as hoped, they were definitely slowing the progress of the life threatening infection, but by no means had it stopped. The days that followed were difficult going on unbearable for everyone who cared about Marisa as she fought for her life.<p>

As the doctors had initially predicted, her condition would become much graver before it improved. Despite the powerful antibiotics, Marisa's condition continued to deteriorate, septicaemia set in just hours after she was admitted to the ICU, her body was failing.

Marisa soon became dependant on the ventilator to breathe for her, the doctors started her on enteral nutrition via a nasogastric tube a couple of hours after that, next her kidneys failed, and she had to be placed on dialysis, they would not recover, and then finally her circulatory system began to shut down and DIC, a life-threatening inability for her blood to clot set in, she was treated aggressively with multiple transfusions of platelets and plasma, and to a degree it worked, the DIC was brought under control, but she still had to be placed on a cardiac bypass to ensure that her blood continued to circulate through her body. Marisa was on life support.

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><p>Then, on the third day, when everyone thought that Marisa's condition could get no worse, one of the ICU nurses was changing the bedding on Marisa's bed, and Rabbit, who had remained in the room to help, noticed the beginnings of a dark, purplish rash on Marisa's legs as soon as he saw it, the medic in him knew what he was seeing, it was the classic beginnings of a meningococcal rash, but the part of him that still was holding onto the hope that Marisa would get better, that this wasn't what he logically knew it was, pointed it out to the nurse, Cathy. "Hey, check this out, would you?"<p>

After that things seemed to speed up for a while, calling down doctors, ordering tests, before it settled back down to the steady chaos that was the ICU.

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><p>Over the hours that followed the rash spread from her legs to her torso and arms, her ears and face, by the following morning there were very few clear areas of skin left.<p>

Dr Lawrence called Mrs Benez and Reuben to meet with him in his office just minutes after he checked on Marisa; they knew that the news would be grave.

"I think it's time to discuss what is the best way to proceed in caring for Marisa. As you must know her condition is extremely critical, she has been on complete life support for close to thirty six hours now. I'm sure that neither one of you wants to see her suffer."

"What're you saying doc? Yeah she's sick, but she's going to pull through, you don't know her, she's so strong," Rabbit said with determination, there was no way he would let this happen.

But it wasn't his decision to make, ultimately the decision would rest on Leticia's shoulders. "Is she in pain doctor?"

"We have her on quite high doses of morphine to relieve pain, but in her current condition there is no way to know for certain. I would like to discuss with you whether you want us to continue with the treatment; if we removed her from the life support, Marisa could go peacefully. In my opinion, given that the antibiotics have not proven effective, your daughter's chance of surviving is very slim."

"But there is a chance?" Reuben just wanted this point clarified.

"Yes, but in my professional opinion-"

"But there's a chance."

Leticia broke in, stopping the terse discussion in its tracks, "I do not want my child to suffer. Please."Leticia broke in, stopping the terse discussion in its tracks, "I do not want my child to suffer. Please."

As though it was destined, at that moment the phone on the doctor's desk rang shrilly.

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><p><em><strong>TBC...<strong>_

_**Thanks for reading. Please take a moment to drop me a review!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Trauma, or the characters thereof. This is just for fun.**_

_**I hope everyone enjoys the final chapter of this fic!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

The doctor paused his conversation, at first neither Leticia paid much attention, but as the conversation continued they realised that he was speaking about Marisa, he sounded very surprised, but positive.

Dr Lawrence was on the phone for a good five minutes before he turned his attention back to the anxious pair, "That was Kaitlin, Marisa seems to have turned a corner, her vital signs are stabilising, and her ICP is close to normal, she has even started triggering the ventilator. I simply cannot explain it."

Rabbit couldn't get out of the room fast enough, he had to see this for himself.

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><p>There was a strange atmosphere in the ICU, by now news had spread amongst the nurses of Marisa's seemingly miraculous turn around. No one had expected her to survive, well no one but Rabbit.<p>

Though Marisa's condition had drastically improved, she still had a long way to go before she would leave the hospital. She was still dependant on the ventilator to breathe, and would be for some time, but at least now, and given how sick she was it was a big step, she was triggering the vent sporadically. The cardiac bypass would be removed later that day. She remained on dialysis, as her kidney function would never return, but in the circumstances that would be a small price to pay. The jury was still out so to speak on if she would wake up, and if she did, if she would have suffered brain damage as a result of the swelling of her brain.

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><p>The next day Marisa began to regain consciousness. Not having expected Marisa to have woken so soon, they hadn't even known if she would wake up. Leticia had gone home for a rest, leaving Reuben to sit with Marisa.<p>

Rabbit had been dozing at her bedside, his hand gently resting over hers. He startled when he felt her hand shift. "Marisa?"

Marisa's eyes slowly opened, and though at first it took a moment she focused on Reuben. There was fear in her eyes.

"Hey partner, good to see you again. You had us worried for a while there," Rabbit paused, he couldn't help but notice how tightly Marisa was now holding his hand, "You're okay."

Marisa opened her mouth, trying to speak, but the breathing tube prevented it, she quickly became panicked.

"It's okay Marisa, just breathe, you're okay. It's the breathing tube, I'll call the nurse, see if they can take it out, okay."

Marisa slightly released her hold on his hand, then squeezed it again before letting him go; in the only way she really could letting him know that it was okay for him to go.

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><p>It took a couple of minutes for Rabbit to come back in with Kaitlin, given the process of scrubbing out of and then back into the isolation suite.<p>

Kaitlin greeted Marisa warmly; she checked her over before going to find Marisa's doctor.

Dr Lawrence was overjoyed to see that his critically ill patient was regaining consciousness, as he checked over Marisa's chart, Dr Lawrence introduced himself, "Hello Marisa, do you remember me?"

Marisa shook her head, no. She vaguely remembered him, but she didn't know who he was.

"I'm Dr Lawrence, I've been taking care of you for the past few days. Is it okay if I check you over, see how you're doing?"

Marisa nodded.

"Okay. Do you know what has been happening since you came into the hospital?"

Marisa shook her head, the last thing she remembered was bringing in the meningitis patient, getting stuck in isolation for hours as a precaution.

"You have been very unwell. The illness you have is called bacterial meningococcal meningitis septicaemia, a severe form of infection that has affected multiple body systems. We have been caring for you here in the intensive care unit for four days now."

"When can you take out the breathing tube?" Reuben asked.

"Not yet. We need to give her body a bit of time to recover." The physician turned to Marisa, telling her, "Your condition has turned a corner, and you are now stable, but you are still critically ill. We have you on a ventilator, dialysis, cardiac bypass, and multiple medications to treat the infection, as well as to support you until the antibiotics clear the infection from your system."

"What about the rash? Is it going to get better?" Reuben queried, then when he saw how Marisa tensed, he soothed her, "It's just a part of the illness, like the doctor said you're doing much better. We'll be back out there in no time."

"The bypass has maintained blood supply to the extremities, there is some tissue damage, which looks like we may need to do some skin grafts to cover. I think the arms and legs should be salvageable, a couple of the toes are a bit dusky, but that's minor considering." Dr Lawrence turned his focus to Marisa, "You're a very lucky girl, Marisa. You came very close to not surviving, but now I think it's safe to say that you will walk out of this hospital."

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><p>Two days later Marisa was extubated, and soon after she was moved out of the ICU. Her life seemed to be out of danger, there at last was hope.<p>

But then that hope was being dimmed by the fact that the circulation in Marisa's legs had deteriorated when they took her off of life support, and it was soon realised that if they were to save Marisa's life it would be necessary to take her into surgery to remove the dead tissue.

There was no choice, septicaemia had done its damage.

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><p>Rueben and Leticia sat by Marisa's bedside, listening in stunned silence as Dr Lawrence informed Marisa that she would need to go into surgery to have the 'dead tissue removed from the lower extremities and possibly hands', in his words. He didn't mince words, explaining to Marisa that it was very likely that the surgeon would need to amputate one, possibly both her legs, and at least two fingers on her left hand.<p>

It surprised everyone just how well Marisa took the news. But the way Marisa saw it was very simple, she had nearly died, by comparison this was just a bump in the road, and back in Afghanistan she had seen many soldiers come back from amputations, some even going back into combat, she could do this.

Marisa stayed calm as the nurses prepared her for surgery, despite the fact that it was very likely that she would wake up from the operation without her legs.

Marisa spoke without fear, even comforting her mother, assuring and reassuring her that she would be alright, whatever the outcome.

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><p>It was only as Marisa was wheeled towards the operating room that she became fearful, her mother had stayed back in the room, unable to cope with the idea of her daughter going into surgery, but Rueben was there for her.<p>

Marisa clung to him, as though she was drowning and he was a lifebuoy, speaking metaphorically I suppose he was.

The orderlies stopped the gurney just short of the OR doors, allowing the pair a moment.

Rabbit did not even try to release himself from Marisa's iron grasp. "Hey, hey, you're okay Marisa. Whatever happens you'll be okay, so, calm down."

Marisa's breathing was getting shallower, "No, no, I can't do this. They can't take my legs, please Rabbit, don't let them do this."

"You've got to have this surgery, 'member what the doc said about infection, and trust me, that's not pretty and it could kill you. This has to be done, and you know that we'll be here, whatever happens, me and your mum, and you will get through it. You will."

"I don't want to," Marisa said softly, she was calming, but now seemed to be near tears.

"I know, I know. But just think a couple of months down the track we'll be back up in the 'copter, and this'll just be a memory."

"But what if they don't let me back? I need to work, I need to fly."

"And you will, I'll make sure you do. But you have to do this."

"You promise?" Marisa asked, sounding almost childlike.

"Promise."

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><p>It was a long time before Marisa got back to her life as it was before the meningococcal.<p>

After two months she was released from the hospital, and true to his word, Reuben had stayed with her, only going home to sleep and shower every second day until he helped her into her mother's car.

It was another four months before she learned how to walk on the prosthetic legs, another two months after that she was cleared to return to work; and a further four months before she could get back behind the controls of a helicopter, or car for that matter, due to the seizures she had suffered when she was ill.

It was a long road, but Marisa had no problem walking it, she was just glad to be alive.

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><p><em><strong>The End.<strong>_

_**Thanks for reading. Please take a moment to drop me a review!**_


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